David O Russell Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Most of us are probably painfully aware of the stress of the holidays when it comes to familial relationships. Films about families tell the one story that practically anyone can relate to. So in the spirit of feeling better about ourselves I've compiled a list of some of the most dysfunctional families in film. Maybe after taking a look at some big-screen dysfunction, we can sit back and take a little solace in that at least none of us have to sit down to Christmas dinner with any of the people on the following list.

1. Spanking the Monkey

Before he was famous on You Tube for his demented freak-out on the set of I Heart Huckabees, David O. Russell was famous for making the unthinkable; a comedy about incest. Monkey stars Alberta Watson as Susan Aibelli; a lonely and depressed mother who develops a sexual relationship with her son after they are left alone together for the summer. Jeremy Davis stars as her son and the subject of this unlikely coming-of-age story. The film might not be for the weak of heart, but it did manage to win an audience award at Sundance in 1994, and was responsible for turning Russell into the megalomaniac we've all come to know and love.

2. Ordinary People

Besides going down in infamy as the film that beat Raging Bull out of a 'Best Picture Oscar', this 1981 drama about a family dealing with the loss of it's 'favored son' was the directorial debut of Robert Redford. Timothy Hutton stars as the younger brother who is readjusting to life after a botched suicide attempt. Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore also star as the parents to Hutton and Judd Hirsch as the prototypical 'earthy NY Jewish' psychiatrist. So for anyone who watched Mary Tyler Moore as the epitome of 'chirpiness' during the seven year run of her self-titled series, get ready to be blown away, because her performance as a cold and repressed suburban mom is one of the best there is.

Holy moley. I've no idea why it took this long for this piece of video to hit los intranettos, but now that it has, I can think of one Hollywood honcho who's probably feeling a little bit embarrassed about his behavior right now. Picture this: Lily Tomlin is reciting some lines on the set of David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees, and she's having some problems with the directions she's being given. She states her problem to the director and then tries to get back to work. Seems like a perfectly normal, if perhaps a bit icy piece of on-set collaboration. A few minutes later, all holy hell breaks loose.

The director just flips the **** out on the respected actress/comedienne, behaving like an infantile bully in front of dozens of crew members. You really have to see this behavior to believe it. (I guess this partially explains why George Clooney is not a big fan of Mr. Russell's. Their battles are well-documented.) Obviously I don't want to vilify Davey too much. This is, after all, the guy who gave us the hilarious Flirting with Disaster and the really brilliant Three Kings. And I'm sure we all have our little "flipouts" every once in a while, emotional snaps that we'd hate to see broadcast on a global arena, but ... yowch. This clip's just too juicy to dismiss. It also looks like Ms. Tomlin can dish it out just as much as she can take it. Here's another clip, in which she sits alongside Dustin Hoffman and Isabelle Huppert, and pretty much loses her you-know-what with her Huckabees director. I know I probably shouldn't enjoy this stuff so much ... but I do.